Matson Lands 2

When I go to the Matson Lands early in the year I always check out this spot first. The Snowdrops blooming here in this crack in the rocks are always the first to show - I think they've got their own little micro-climate going there.

The Matson Lands

As soon as we are on the downhill slope towards spring I begin to check out the Matson Lands, pictured above. It's a very small chunk of Garry Oak Wood ecosystem, no more than an acre, that overlooks the West Bay Walkway. What makes it special is that it faces south and climbs upwards at about a 30 degree angle so that it gets the most sun possible, even in the dead of winter. In addition, it is basically a large rock with a sprinkling of soil here and there so all that heat that it soaks up stays in the rock and provides a little warmth to the plant life and brings it life a little earlier in the year than in less favored locations. I took the above photo yesterday on a walk - you can see the Snowdrops (those small white flowers) in little clusters here and there. I did post a Snowdrop photo in December but they were in a garden setting and very much protected from the elements. The Snowdrops pictured above are wild.

February Choices!

As I wrote yesterday, "Every year I put together a calendar for friends and family, of photos I have published on this blog for the last year or so. However, it's always difficult to make decisions about which photos to use. I sam hoping visitors to this blog will help out. Every day for the next few weeks I will publish two or three photos from a given month and hope that comments and choices made by visitors will help me make a final decision which photos to use in this year's calendar. As an incentive, I will offer an online downloadable/printable file of the calendar to anyone who helps me make a choice."

Thanks to everyone who gave me their opinions yesterday.

Below are my favorite February 2016 photos: Which one do you prefer?

Flowering Plum

Daffodils on Beacon Hill

View from Swallows' Landing

One Flock of Flickers....

...and a partridge in a pear tree. A Flock of Flickers is not in the old Christmas carol but it sounds like it could be. It seems that Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus), though I've only seen single birds or couples in the spring and summer, like to flock in larger numbers in the winter. There's only one visible in this photo (upper right) but there were four of them altogether foraging for insects in the Matson Lands above the West Bay Walkway. Like other members of the woodpecker family Flickers seek out insects in tree bark but they also forage for bugs on the ground. Perhaps that's the reason we see more of them in the city than other members of the family. (NOT the greatest bird photo but I didn't have a telephoto lens with me that day.)

The View from Swallows Landing

It was a brisk and sunny day today so I took the opportunity to take in one of my favorite views of the city, from the terrace at Swallows Landing, just above the Matson Lands in Esquimalt. As you can see, our snow has gone just as quick as it came.

Giant White Fawn Lily

Here's another native plant of the North Pacific Coast, the small (despite its name) Giant White Fawn Lily (Erythronium oregonum). These were photographed in the forest remanants of the Matson Lands above the West Bay Walkway. In my experience, this south-facing hillside over the water is one of the earliest spots around the city where these may be seen in the spring.

Matson Lands

The photos for the last few days have been taken from a viewpoint above the West Bay Walkway above a small property known as the Matson Lands after the original owner. This small steep hillside is a tiny vestige of the Garry Oak Ecosystem, an ecosystem that is in danger of extinction. To protect it, this stairway has been built that connects the property above with the West Bay Walkway in a fashion that protects the delicate ecosystem. The person in red in the centre of the photo is walking along the West Bay Walkway.

The View

Sunday was bright and sunny and immediately after I photographed the Snowdrops posted yesterday I walked to the top of the stairway leading from the West Bay Walkway to the top of the Matson Lands to take this photo - probably my favorite readily accessible view of the city.

Walkway Wildlife 3

A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of a Blacktail Buck in the Ross Bay Cemetery. Here's one I saw last week in the Matson Lands, a bit of preserved Garry Oak landscape that is on the West Bay Walkway just above Sailors' Cove. This buck was following an attractive young doe.... Must be that time of year.

View from Swallows' Landing

The steep green hillside in the foreground is the Matson Lands, a conservation/restoration area of the Garry Oak ecosystem. On the right beyond the trees is West Bay and its Marina and RV Campground. The stairway in the foreground is to protect the Matson Lands from trampling and other damage. At the bottom it connects with the West Bay Walkway.

Deer me!

I had planned to continue this anniversary week with some kind of retrospective posts looking at the last five years but I was happy to have my camera with me on yesterday's morning walk along the West Bay Walkway. It was one of those situations when you are looking for something - for me it was spring flowers - so I was focused on the ground. Suddenly I became aware that I was being watched and when I looked up there were all these deer - four of them. It looks like three does and a fawn to me. This is an urban area - it's within the Victoria city limits and just below a large condominium development in a well settled residential neighbourhood. I've seen deer here before but four at once is unusual. (I did spy some spring flowers - tomorrow!)